IU faces hot-handed Northwestern

Following Sunday’s 81-64 loss at No. 5 Ohio State, IU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team wasn’t where it needed to be defensively.

“You’ve got to protect what you think belongs to you,” she said. “We haven’t done the best job at that. We, as coaches, have got to get better at demonstrating what kind of intensity we need to have defensively. And then two, (we) have to become that defensive team that we think we are.”

That evaluation begins Thursday as the Hoosiers (10-8, 3-4) welcome Northwestern to Assembly Hall.

The Wildcats (12-6, 3-4) enter the contest shooting at a .420 field goal percentage, fourth-best in the Big Ten.

They also rank second in the conference in assists at a 16.67 per-game average.
Legette-Jack praised Northwestern’s strong shooting and facilitating, adding that the Wildcats are a lot better than they were last year.

“Their precision is unbelievable,” she said. “Right when you think they’re getting ready to shoot, they make that extra pass.”  

Northwestern center Amy Jaeschke, an All-Big Ten selection a year ago, has powered the Wildcats both offensively and defensively.

Jaeschke’s presence necessitates that strong defensive mentality for IU, said sophomore forward Danilsa Andujar.

“It’ll be important for everyone to rebound and box out,” she said. “I think the box-out is crucial in either team getting the rebound, so if we’re just more aggressive than them at the box-out, we’ll get the rebounds and definitely pull out the win.”

While the Hoosiers aim to find themselves defensively, they still believe scoring will be there for them, said leading scorer and junior guard Jori Davis.

“Offense is what we naturally can do,” she said. “We’re a defensive team because we need to focus more on defense to win these games. Our offense takes us a long way, but in the end, it’s the defense that will get us the wins.”